Performers

Glenda Kirkland

Female | Performers

About

Glenda Kirkland was educated at Spelman College, the Juilliard School, and Eastern Michigan University. Ms. Kirkland, Professor of Voice in the Department of Music and Dance, has completed over 55 hours at the University of Michigan towards the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree. Professor Kirkland has given solo performances with opera companies, oratorio societies, and symphony orchestras throughout the Great Lakes region, the East Coast, and more recently, Cambridge, England. Her song recitals, often including her own “verbal program notes,” have earned glowing praise and repeat engagements on recital series in schools and communities throughout Michigan and surrounding states. She has appeared in opera and concert engagements with Luciano Pavarotti, Barbara Hendricks, Gwyneth Jones, William Warfield, and George Shirley, among others. An acclaimed soloist in standard works such as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, operatic favorites in Michigan Opera Theatre’s Time Out for Opera, and Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Professor Kirkland has also premiered works by Letti Alston, Adolphus Hailstork, and Anthony Iannaccone. She may be heard with Barbara Hendricks, Gwyneth Jones, and Matti Kastu on the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s world premiere London Decca recording of The Egyptian Helen, a work in which she appeared with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on tour at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. A recent CD recording, entitled The New Negro Spiritual Collection, compiled and edited by Willis C. Patterson, reflects her enduring love for this rich body of music. Praised for her interpretive skills, radiant charismatic stage presence, and especially beautiful voice, a review of Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 stated: “Kirkland’s perfect breath control, bright yet warm timbre and deep-felt respect for the text’s open-hearted naïveté resulted in one of the most satisfying performances I’ve heard in many a year.” Though often praised for her work as an artist, Professor Kirkland treasures dearly the comments of appreciation given by her students. Many students refer to her talent, patience, kindness, and willingness to devote extra time to assist students in the pursuit of their goals.